RoR 2 -CH3- (Patreon)

Knocking with the back of his knuckles on Bodil’s door Warner felt rather odd.

Most especially since the raven on his shoulder clearly had a special bond with her owner. He wasn’t quite sure of it, but he was nearly certain that there was communication between the two. At some level Bodil knew what Siv wanted her to know, and vice versa.

That could very easily mean that Bodil was already aware of his intentions.

“Good, Warner,” Siv said, nuzzling him once again. “Love. Love.”

Smirking, Warner reached up and once again idly rubbed at Siv’s head.

The door inched open and Warner could see a slice of Bodil’s pretty face in the gap.

“What do you want?” she asked in a growl. She was still angry and it seemed that maybe Siv hadn’t told her anything yet.

“Warner, love, Bodil,” Siv said before Warner could fathom how to begin.

Bodil frowned and looked to the raven.

“Com’ere,” Bodil said, opening the door wider and holding her hand out.

“Bodil, love, Warner,” said Siv, reversing the order of her words. Hopping off Warner’s shoulder the bird flapped once and then landed on Bodil’s hand. Sidestepping quickly it moved up to her shoulder. “Daria.”

Siv settled into place on Bodil’s shoulder and then looked to Warner.

“I see,” Bodil murmured looking to Warner. A slow smile spread across her lips.

“Ah… I need to apologize,” Warner said, wondering if in the moment that Siv touched Bodil, she’d relayed information. There was a definite and immediate change in the woman.

Standing there Bodil continued to smile at him, then she slowly opened the door.

“Do come in then for your apology,” said the rune-reader.

Warner hadn’t been in this room since he’d “rented” it out to Bodil.

Looking through the doorway he found the bedroom had been transformed. It had a large number of wooden carvings along the walls.

Interspersed through those were hanging necklaces, medallions, and pendants. Some were made from precious metals, others wooden.

A queen sized bed was wedged up into the corner and a desk was put off to the side of it. A laptop sitting in the middle of it and looking as if Bodil had just been sitting at it.

The closet had been filled to bursting with clothes as well as a wardrobe crammed into it.

He had the sudden feeling that stepping into Bodil’s bedroom was going to give her a great deal of power over him. As if he were once again the fly, flying right into the spider’s web.

Entering the room, Warner walked over to stand beside the bed and the desk.

Closing the door Bodil went over and sat down on the edge of her bed. Crossing one leg over the other she gave him an arch look and a rather wide grin.

“You may begin,” she commanded.

Siv made a soft croaking noise, hopped off Bodil’s arm, and flapped over to the far corner of the room. A wooden stand with a number of perches was the clear destination.

“Right… I’ll apologize first, then explain my reasons,” began Warner. “And so… I’m sorry for pushing at you, Bodil. I did it in triplicate and looked to knock you… away… from me. So to speak.

“Because I do know how you might be feeling. I’ve spoken with Daria about it at great length. About what will likely happen in the future between all of us. And no, Daria didn’t offer me anything I didn’t already suspect. You’re not exactly subtle and neither is Siv.”

“Love, Warner. Good, Warner,” Siv replied immediately.

“Exactly,” Warner said, glancing at the raven and then back to Bodil.

The smile that’d been on her face faded slightly, but she still looked rather amused.

“Yes. I’m afraid Siv is… more direct than I am,” allowed Bodil. “I’m sure Daria would use the term, ‘more honest’ and likely be correct.

“And I wish I could tell you how I feel but even I’m unsure. But… what I do know… is however hard I fight I get pulled closer.”

Standing there, looking at the beautiful rune-reader, Warner really wasn’t sure what to say.

“Well, I wanted to push you away from me. Because honestly I don’t think I can keep up with Daria and Aelia, let alone adding someone like you into the mix.”

“Someone like me?” Bodil asked, her eyebrows and tone going up dangerously.

“You’re a beautiful woman who deserves far more attention than I’d ever be able to give you, Bodil. That doesn’t even take into account I’m already split between Aelia and Daria,” Warner said quickly, realizing he’d stuck his foot in his mouth and he had to get it out quickly.

“Ah… I see. Thank you,” she said, the smile growing wider once more. “And you forgot Maddy. She still believes that she’s yours to do with as you please sexually. No matter how hard Daria and Aelia try to push that memory out of her head. It seems she’s latched onto that.”

Grimacing at the thought Warner could only nod his head.

“Daria, Aelia, Madison, and Maya. Then there’s my job. The amount of attention I can give out is very limited. I was trying to get you to back up so I wouldn’t feel guilty when I didn’t give you what you deserve,” Warner explained.

With a heavy sigh, Bodil leaned back onto her bed. Propping herself up on her elbows.

“Yes. I could see how that would bother you. Though I’m afraid this really isn’t your choice I suppose,” she murmured. “When you said what you did, in triplicate, I felt it. As if someone has struck the thread of my life that made me. That the Norns themselves had plucked upon it as if it were a string on a guitar to be played. And it rang true.”

Bodil’s words had a heavy import to them. As if she were speaking of things even she only barely understood. Her eyes had unfocused partially and she was staring through Warner’s face.

“It… vibrated within me, Warner James. You named me,” she continued, her voice coming to a near whisper. “I am to be Bodil James and mother to Maya and others. No matter how hard I fight or resist, that is my fate. The Rune-Mother is my naming in this fate.

“To deny the ring of truth from the Norns pulling at me personally, to deny their naming, would be done at my own peril. You say you wished to push me away with it, but I’m afraid all you did was convince me of my wyrd and seal it.”

“Ah…I’m sorry,” Warner lied. He felt it as soon as he said it. “Err, nevermind. No, I’m not sorry. I don’t want to harm you. To not give you the attention you deserve but… it’s not as if I’m not attracted to you.”

Blinking twice, Bodil finally saw him once again. Her eyes focusing on him as her smile grew wider and quite warmer.

“I’m aware. You like to watch me. Just as I watch you,” admitted Bodil and then gestured to her walls. “These aren’t just for show, Warner James.”

Glancing toward where she was pointing he found that a considerable number of her carvings were all glowing brightly. More than ninety percent of them in fact were all picking up a golden glow that was increasing by the second.

“An angelic. Carrying the divine spark of the Originator. Destined for greatness,” Bodil said in a breathy voice. “Do not fret so, Warner. Most of these carvings just tell me what you’re about. What you’re doing. Sometimes a hint of what you’re feeling or thinking. Your past decisions and what choices you made.

“My future facing runes do not work very well with you. Too much in flux and change at all times to get any reading.”

“I’m not an angel. My parents were quite ordinary. Very boring,” muttered Warner. He hadn’t thought about his parents in a while.

While he did love them, as they were his parents, he also had never felt much from them. There was always an odd stilted heaviness to them.

An otherworldly blankness that he could never figure out.

Only his aunt, his father’s sister-in-law, had ever really shown him any warmth.

I’ll call her after this.

“Your heritage doesn’t come from your parents. It isn’t something you genetically inherited,” corrected Bodil. “It’s… a part of you in a way that can’t be measured. Its in your soul, but it isn’t your soul itself.”

“Now that’s just confusing,” Warner said with a chuckle, looking back to Bodil.

“Isn’t it though? That’s as much as I can tell through my readings and rune-work. Sorry,” she said with a laugh. “Now… you’ll need to leave. I’ve received your apology, I’ve heard your intentions, and I understand my wyrd much better for it.

“You’ll not be allowed to re-enter my bedroom until we have formally settled a bride-price for me. And that can’t be settled until… well, until my family will speak with me again.”

“Bride-price?” Warner asked. He honestly had never heard the term before.

“A tradition my family firmly believes in. You must pay my family for my hand in marriage,” said Bodil with a shrug of their shoulders. “After all, this would be an alliance of our families, but in the same breath, they will be deprived of my abilities once I’m gone.”

Uh… that… sounds really weird.

“Don’t fret over it. Now… you need to leave,” Bodil said again.

“Love, Warner. Warner, Bodil, love,” Siv said. She sounded like she was getting agitated. “Bed, love. Bed, bed, love, bed, bed.”

Bed. I-oh. Bodil isn’t… as calm, cool, and collected as she lets on.

Got it.

Nodding his head once to Bodil Warner beat a hasty retreat and closed the door to her bedroom behind himself.

There was a vibration in his pocket from his cell phone as soon as the door clicked shut.

Pulling it out he looked to the screen.

“Good job! That went so well! Bodil is very happy and very secure now. So, so, so far outside my expectations.

“She’s really going to work hard to be the Rune-Mother.”

Clicking his teeth together lightly Warner considered that title. That title and what it could mean and what it meant for his future.

“Don’t ask. I won’t tell, regardless of what you promise. Neither will Bodil. Not until it happens,” sent Daria in another message. “Just know that it’s a good thing and Maya will be very happy. Now, go call your aunt. You’ve been putting that off long enough.”

Standing there with his phone in his hand, Warner waited only a second.

Then he flicked the screen to his contacts and started moving back to the living room. By the time he got back to his recliner the line was ringing.

By the third ring he’d turned on the TV and had it running in the background.

“Warner!” said an enthusiastic voice on the other end of the line. “I was just thinking about you. How are you?”

Smirking, Warner leaned back in his recliner. His aunt had always been excited to hear from him or talk to him. She’d been one of the few sources of support to him.

The relationship he had with her was one he valued, even if they went a little while without talking. Her job and her husband always seemed to keep her on the move.

“I’m good,” he started, and realized he was lying. Lying and to the one person he promised he’d never lie to. “Actually, no. I’m not doing that well.”

“What? Why? How come?” asked his aunt, her tone rapidly switching to an intensity he knew well. Her interest and involvement in him was more like a mother at times.

“Maya got hurt in a hit and run accident,” said Warner, wondering how to get through the whole story. Then just decided to go for it. “By a police officer, no less. We got a massive settlement out of it. She’s set for life.”

“I’ll kill them,” growled his aunt. The only person more special to his aunt than Warner, was Maya.

“I already did,” answered Warner truthfully. “And the DA who wouldn’t process the case. They weren’t human. Some type of… creature… that was almost like a shadow. But that was after I killed a Werewolf.

“I also killed a Manticore from the Abyssid empire. Oh, and a black-blob made out of evil that made skin melt. I’ve gunned done a number of evil people and have personally balanced as much of the world as I can.

“I grow golden wings and use a power that practically turns me into another person.

“Oh, and before I forget. I’m also now dating a Poltergeist and a psychic who can see the future. Chances are I’ll be dating a troll and a rune-reader very soon as well.”

He hadn’t expected to lay everything out like that in one outpouring, but once he’d started he’d found it impossible to stop.

“A manticore? That’s very impressive, Warner! How’d you do it?” asked his aunt sounding incredibly interested again.

“Sword and a pistol. I took his eye-teeth as trophies,” Warner said, realizing in that moment that not only did his aunt believe him, but she knew of the other world.

“That’s amazing. Templars would have had a problem with one. I think I might be able to take one on by myself, but I’m not sure. Not something I’d want to risk either,” his aunt said with a laugh.

Templar… she does know.

“Auntie… auntie Decima I had… no idea about any of this till Maya was hurt,” tried Warner, not quite sure how to dig into this.

“Mm. I can’t deny I was surprised when you suddenly brought it up, but it’s not the first time you’ve seen such things you know,” Decima said with a chuckle and then sighed. “I’m sure when you don’t want to, you remember a car-trip from hell with your uncle, cousin, and I. As well as a few others.”

Warner was staring through the TV now as if it didn’t exist.

His mind had been violently flung back into his past. Into a long car ride with his aunt, his uncle, his cousin, and family-friends.

The sharp retort of gunfire went off in his mind as well as screams. Some his own, some others, as they raced across empty plains and roads.

It was the clearest he’d ever remembered it. Every time his mind had drifted toward it in the past, it’d partially blanked itself out.

“Yes,” Warner said simply, dredging his thoughts back from the edge.

“Well, your cousin isn’t human. She’s a doppellganger. I’m technically a golem and your uncle is an Incubus. All your other cousins aren’t human either. Alex was asking about you by the way. He’d like to stop by sometime and say hi,” Decima said.

“A golem?” Warner asked, now feeling incredibly out of his depth.

“Yes. I’m actually a witch-hunter from… a long time ago. Sam brought me back to life and married me the same day. I have to have your other aunts put a spell or two on me so I look old whenever I see you. I’m probably younger than you are physically.”

“Witch-hunter,” mumbled Warner. “Spells?”

“That’s right. Irene, Jes, or Stacia usually take care of it for me. My spellwork has always been trash,” said Decima with a sigh. “Now… you said you weren’t doing well. Is Maya okay? Has she healed?”

“Oh! Yes, Maya is recovering. She’s in physical therapy now to try to get back to whatever normalcy she can,” Warner said, his mind skipping back to the subject as a whole. “It’s… me I guess. Every time I use my powers I end up throwing up blood. Except it’s often bright gold then turns into a bloody color. Or brown.”

“Gold?” mused his aunt, sounding like she was leaning back in her chair. “I can ask Sam and see what he thinks. He had more dealings with angelics than I, but that’s what it sounds like to me. An angel’s power backfiring in you. You’re human, sweetie. Through and through. You using an angelic power is definitely going to cause a backlash.”

Letting his eyes drop to the ground Warner found himself agreeing with her statement. It matched up with what he thought of the situation and what he’d learned from Daria and Bodil.

An angelic power in a human body.

“It’s like trying to force a two-liter bottle into a soda-can. Going to rip apart the can to make it happen, and even, a lot is going to spill over,” explained Decima. “Try… not to use the power if you can. Its probably killing you.”

“I… alright. I understand,” Warner said. “I can’t promise that because… because I need to keep righting the scales. There’s so much injustice in the world.”

Laughing, Decima seemed to find that incredibly funny.

“I’m aware. I’m very aware. I’ll see if some of your aunts can’t come out and take a look at you. See if they can’t help. Your aunt Stacia is very good at magical ailments you know,” Decima offered.

Warner liked his other aunts well enough. They were all very kind to him.

But none of them were like Decima to him. He couldn’t explain it, but he had a closeness with her he didn’t share with anyone else.

“I’ll try to be there as well. I’d love to see Maya. Though I’m not going to bother to put on the ‘look old’ magical glamor. No point in that,” warned Decima. “You’ll need to let Maya know about that before we just show up.”

“Sure thing, auntie,” Warner said immediately.

“Good, good. Now, you said you’re dating. I hope this isn’t anything like Asa? She was never right for you. If I didn’t know better, I’d have sworn she was a succubus,” complained Decima. “But being married to an Incubus and that I now know so many succubi, that’d be an insult to them. Jes is nothing like Asa.”

“She’s human?” Warner asked, now incredibly curious. “Wait, aunt Jes is a succubus?”

“Yes to both. Rather amusing considering I’m a witch-hunter. Though you’d never believe what your aunt Irene and Caer are, they-”

Warner’s attention was on the TV as it suddenly flipped away from whatever was playing on the local station to the news.

“Hold on, Decima,” Warner murmured, interrupting her. “The news just flipped over.”

“What? Hm.”

Picking up the remote Warner unmuted it.

“-has been assassinated. The entire building has been locked down now and they’re looking for suspects,” said the anchor.

The text-crawl across the bottom read out the part Warner had missed.

Sarah Newbin, the presumptive winner of the next presidential election, had just been assassinated.

What?